Notonthesamepage, who took the Spectacular Bid Stakes with Elvis Trujillo aboard Jan. 3, is favored in the Fountain of Youth.

By Bob Velin, USA TODAY

The road to the Kentucky Derby kicks into high gear this weekend with high-profile 3-year-old prospects running in prep races on both coasts.

At Florida's Gulfstream Park, a fast, full field of 12 in the 63rd Fountain of Youth Stakes will include Beethoven, who won the 1 1/16-mile Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes as a 2-year-old in November at Churchill Downs, and Capt. Candyman Can, a gelding who ran third in that race and won the Hutcheson Stakes in January.

Beethoven is coming off a disappointing fourth-place finish in the 1 1/8-mile Holy Bull Stakes on Jan. 31 at Gulfstream, but he will only have to cover a mile in the Fountain of Youth, shortened this year from 1 1/8 miles. A strong workout last weekend at the track makes him a force to be reckoned with.

Also in the field are stakes winners Notonthesamepage and This Ones for Phil, the two fastest horses in the USA this year according to Beyer Speed figures. Both are coming off sharp 3-year-old debuts. Notonthesamepage is the 3-1 morning-line favorite.

This Ones for Phil is trained by Rick Dutrow, who burst onto the scene last year with Big Brown, who won the Derby and Preakness before placing last in the Belmont.

This Ones for Phil, the gelded son of Untuttable, overcame 11-1 odds to win the Sunshine Millions Dash by 2½ lengths at Gulfstream on Jan. 24. He will break from the far outside No. 12 post.

"I love being on the outside," Dutrow told the Daily Racing Form Wednesday. "I just wish it was the outside in a seven-horse field and not 12. But it's still good. Just where I want to be."

Notonthesamepage, trained by Wesley Ward Jr., also dominated in his debut, winning the Jan. 3 six-furlong Spectacular Bid Stakes at Gulfstream by 8¼ lengths and missing the track record by .02 seconds. He'll break from the No. 3 spot.

"It's not what I wanted," Ward told the DRF. "I wish I could swap posts with Dutrow. This kind of forces our hand a little."

Other top prospects in the field include Theregoesjojo, Taqarub, making his Florida debut after winning his first three starts at Aqueduct in New York, and Quality Road.

Take the Points, trained by Todd Pletcher, was entered in both the Fountain of Youth and Sham Stakes but shipped to California Thursday, and Pletcher will opt for the Grade III Sham.

Take the Points will face the favorite and only stakes winner in the field of 12 3-year-olds, The Pamplemousse, ridden by Alex Solis.

A Kentucky-bred son of Kafwain, The Pamplemousse, named for a popular Del Mar restaurant, is coming off an impressive two-length victory Jan. 17 in the Grade III San Rafael Stakes on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface Jan. 17.

"I'm speechless, I really am," Solis said after his win in the San Rafael. "It feels like he's walking, he does everything so effortlessly."

Solis, 44, who has never won a Kentucky Derby but has finished second three times, looks forward to getting what might be his best shot with The Pamplemousse at Churchill Downs on May 2.

"I better start going to church and hoping (The Pamplemousse) stays sound," Solis said of his impressive colt.

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